I now pronounce you part of city's revenue

Under plan, Schenectady mayors wouldn't be able to pocket wedding fees

By LAUREN STANFORTH Staff writer

Published 12:00 am, Tuesday, April 19, 2011

SCHENECTADY -- Apparently, a mayor's ceremonial rite to bring two people together in wedded bliss was also making the city leader's pockets happy, and City Council wants to change that.

At its committee meeting Monday night, council members voted to create a revenue line in future budgets that will hold all fees charged to couples who get married by a city official, typically the mayor. In the wake of Mayor Brian U. Stratton's departure two weeks ago, it was quickly learned that the fees he, or other mayors, took in for weddings were personally pocketed.

Now, the $60 charged to the betrothed will be put in the city's coffers.

More Information

City Council members joked that it could be a money windfall during what could be a devastating fiscal year, prompting sustained laughter from Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden. "I'm sorry," he chuckled, "'Support your city. Get married!'"

Democratic City Council President Gary McCarthy, the likely November mayoral candidate who is now acting mayor, said Van Norden has told him he now has the right to wed couples and that he'll perform his first ceremony in City Hall on May 1. "People are lining up to be married," McCarthy joked at the meeting.

In other city business Monday, council members got copies of the current residency requirement for employees, a previously ignored mandate that will be enforced again soon. Under the regulations, new employees must move to Schenectady within six months of hiring. If they don't want to move or can't, the employee appeal before a residency board made up of council members and the mayor.

Also Monday, golf professional Brian Damon discussed various business with City Council in his new role as a city employee. The Council agree to pay Damon $85,000 in salary plus benefits in exchange for him no longer running the municipal course as a contracted employee, which previously afforded him the right to keep profits from cart rentals, private lessons and the pro shop.